Microstamping & Ballistic Identification in Delaware

Last updated November 7, 2017.

By a law that became effective on September 14, 2016, it is the state policy of Delaware for its law-enforcement agencies to employ electronic technology and inter-jurisdictional information and analysis sharing programs to deter and solve gun crimes.1

As part of this policy, law enforcement agencies that recover firearms or spent shell casings at the scene of a crime must submit ballistics information, as soon as possible, to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network.2 This will help determine whether the firearm in question is related to a prior crime or to an individual who may be associated with prior criminal activity.

In addition, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, in cooperation with the Department of Justice, must develop and promulgate a statewide standard protocol for the recovery and forensic processing of firearms and firearm-related evidence where the gun was used for any unlawful purpose or recovered from the scene of a crime.3